Resident picks up "disgusting" amount of dog fouling bags (From Harwich and Manningtree Standard)

This is nothing new. Well over a year ago , i reported to the Council that this was occuring in the two alleys that run from Stourview Avenue to Harwich Rd...as well as Remercie Close to Harwich Rd. People are bagging up the stuff and not taking it home to dispose of. Instead they litter the areas including tossing the " nappy" sacks into trees and bushes.I myself alerted Mistley Norman school that sacks had been thrown into the schools area including the playing field. When it was suggested more bins should be deployed...i was told that it was not feasible as they are often set alight. A story run earlier this week claimed only 3 charges of fouling had been made in all of Tendring !! Not enough staff..not enough money...not enough thought and not enough care ! T.D.C needs a rethink.....just ask the poor chaps that have to clean up the alleyways...and a lot of "stuff " is not bagged...just left where " dropped " !

I had this discussion only last Friday with a man in his 60's whose dog poo'ed behind him. I said to him "oh your dogs just done a poo" he said "I'll go and pick it up" I carried on walking then stopped to see if he was. He was watching me to see if I would look around and the moment I did he made this big thing about getting a poo bag out of his pocket. I carried on walking but further on I stopped and looked around again, just in time to see him fold up his poo bag and put it back in his pocket and carry on walking. This older man had two small dogs, yorkshire terrier types, and is apparantly an author. He was walking his dogs along Essex Way in Lawford, whch is always covered in poo an is a main route to both the local schools. Its disguting but there is never anyone to tell. Next time I will film this ignorant old fool, I thought it was just the younger generation that was guilty of this but obviously not.

Two myths need exploding. The first is that there is no such thing as the dog poo fairy and the second is that biodegradable dog poo bags don't evaporate instantaneously!

So shame on you, pick up and pocket your dog's poo. The put it in a bin, and any bin will do.

There is an associated story in the Clacton and Frinton News. See Dirty dog owner fines fail to hit their mark published at 7:00am on Sunday 27th January 2013.

It says:

ONLY three dog owners were fined for not cleaning up after their pets in Tendring last year.

Owners can be hit with a £50 fine if they do not clear up after their dog on public land.

But just a handful of people were fined in 2012 - despite more than 20 council employees being authorised to hand out fixed penalty notices.

Tendring Council environment boss Nick Turner is urging the public to help prosecute those responsible.
“It is not for lack of will - we just can’t get the evidence,” he said.

“People should let us know when someone is not picking up after their dog.

“If it’s happening regularly we can get a dog warden out there.

“Our dog wardens are wonderful and will be out there at 6am if it will secure a conviction.

“But we need the help of local people.”

There are fears people are scared to report rogue dog owners in case they find out.


I wanted to proffer a comment but for some inexplicable reason there was no facility to do so.

I will therefore publish my comment undercover of this report in the Harwich & Manningtree Standard.

Here it is:

What an utterly feeble response from the Tendring Council Environment Boss

Of course people will be put off being seen to report the miscreants responsible for this obnoxious nuisance.

By the very nature of their disregard for the law the perpetrators are already demonstrating an aggressive attitude to society in general.

People living in close communities should not be put in the invidious position of being treated as pariahs by these low intellect neighbours.

It is patently obvious that it wouldn’t just be the pavements and playing fields that get besmirched with the unwelcome K9 Output - it would probably also be the letter boxes of the supposed informants!

These people pay their council tax. They are entitled to a reasonable standard of service. I don’t think that given there are more than 20 council employees authorised to hand out fixed penalty notices that an average of one penalty notice per employee being handed out every 6 years and 8 months is a particularly good result!

Why doesn’t the person in charge of this particular department get a grip and deploy the staff on a random proactive basis to apprehend the perpetrators in the act. I am sure it wouldn’t take too long before a few fifty quid contributions found their way back to the council coffers.

I don't know how the word wonderful gets into the equation, quite frankly I think the situation is a absolute disgrace!

Something has got to be done, I complained several times last year to TDC and still looks like nothing has been done, the alley way between Stourview ave to harwich road is always covered in dog poo and I have to watch where me and my children walk!. My son actually gags when he sees it. Also a lot near the school. Fed up with it, yes TDC have put a poo bin near the school but doesn't seem to made a difference! And shame on those people with dogs, its disgusting! U have a dog clean up after it!!!

Fill your boots Nick Turner!

Don’t tell the people who pay your wages how wonderful your department is. Demonstrate it by results.

Get out there and lead by example!

Let’s have some collars felt, penalties issued and the perpetrators named and shamed.

Otherwise perhaps you might consider moving aside and making way for someone more positively inclined?

Let’s hear your response.

I would like to add i am a dog owner and i do pick up my dogs mess unlike a lot of other dog owners, i would like to to see more dog bins down Harwich road going towards mistley Thorn - i find that a enjoyable walk but not so much when you have to carry a bag full of poo all the way down until you get behind the mistley thorn and then there is another one directly outside the church?? - these bins need to be spread out and not just near Furze hills, this should stop people just leaving it on the ground, and would make it more helpful for me on my walks .

I agree leaving dog mess on pavements and verges is absolutely disgusting. I am a dog owner and I have "poo bags" in every pocket and I use them. So please don't label us all as not picking up, there are a lot of us who are responsible dog owners. I gag and feel disgusted if I see it on a pavement too it makes me mad that some dog owners don't pick the mess up. What's just as annoying is those who pick it up then toss the bag at the side of the verge. It won't disappear on its own. Also what really grates on me is bloody horse poo they are allowed to do it on roads and also on many many pavements in tendring area and they dont pick it up. Come on clamp down on horse owners/riders too and make them pick it up. I have been along many pavements and had to walk out onto the road because of horse **** and also there is so much on the roads that it gets on your car tyres and brought into your drive etc.

Good Idea Multitasker.

Why don’t we require horse owners to affix automatic Scoopers to their steeds who could pull them along just like any other horse drawn cart?

Before anyone Pooh Poohs this suggestion they had better take a look at http://www.youtube.c
om/watch?v=gyXA1FHVC
ew

Indeed, maybe their’s a fortune to be made out there for the entrepreneur who is the first to produce a ‘Model K9’ variant.

Who said the UK has lost its enterprising spirit?